On Friday the 4th of July Steve and I caught a train for Edinburgh. The beginning of a big adventure, I thought, until we started talking to the retired couple from Canberra who were just starting a three month exploration of Britain. A small adventure then.

Two parts of a cow on Cowgate, Edinburgh

Our accommodation in Edinburgh was a temporary Youth Hostel, actually a student hall of residence on Cowgate. Once a road where cattle could brought in from surrounding fields to safely chew the cud, crap, piss and moo all night until dawn when they returned to their normal daytime fields. Much the same today, but its young people who fill the streets, enjoying safety in numbers until dawn drives them away. Around 4.30am the street cleaning teams and machines turn up to clear the nightly accumulations, then lorries reverse up the road to restock the bars for the next night – and Health and Safety demands that they use loud beepers to alert any stray cattle to their movements.

On the plus side one of the venues is a Brew Dog bar, which we sampled on our first full day between climbing Arthur’s Seat (east side of town) and walking the banks of the Waters of Leith (west side).